Sleeping in the Ground: An Inspector Banks Novel

At the doors of a charming country church, an unspeakable act destroys a wedding party. A huge manhunt ensues. The culprit is captured. The story is over. Except it isn't. For Alan Banks, still struggling with a tragic loss of his own, there's something wrong about this case - something unresolved. Reteaming with profiler Jenny Fuller, the relentless detective deeper into the crime...deep enough to unearth long-buried secrets that reshape everything Banks thought he knew about the events outside that chapel.

The Last Detective: An Inspector Peter Diamond Investigation

Detective Superintendent Peter Diamond is the last detective: a genuine gumshoe, committed to door-stopping and deduction rather than fancy computer gadgetry. So when the naked body of a woman is found floating in the weeds in a lake near Bath with no one willing to identify her, no marks, and no murder weapon, his sleuthing abilities are tested to the limit.

Before the Poison

Chris Lowndes built a comfortable career composing scores for films in Hollywood. But after 25 years abroad, and still quietly reeling from the death of his beloved wife, he decides to return to the Yorkshire dales of his youth. To ease the move, he buys Kilnsgate House, a rambling old mansion deep in the country. Although Chris finds Kilnsgate charming, something about the house disturbs him, a vague sensation that the long-empty rooms have been waiting for him - feelings made ever stronger when he learns that the house was the scene of a murder....

No Cure for Love: A Novel

Featuring a foreword by Michael Connelly, this relentlessly suspenseful thriller from the New York Times bestselling and Edgar award-winning author of the Inspector Banks novels marks the first time that Peter Robinson has set a novel in America. Sarah Broughton has come a long way. She's the star of a hit cop show on TV. She lives in a beautiful California beach house. And–most importantly–she's put her dark past behind her… as well as her old name, Sally Bolton. No need for anyone to know about that.

Raven Black: Book One of the Shetland Island Quartet

It is a cold January morning, and Shetland lies beneath a deep layer of snow. Trudging home, Fran Hunter's eye is drawn to a splash of color on the frozen ground, ravens circling above. It is the strangled body of her teenage neighbor, Catherine Ross. The locals on the quiet island stubbornly focus their gaze on one man - loner and simpleton Magnus Tait.

A Test of Wills

Ian Rutledge returns to his career at Scotland Yard after years fighting in the First World War. Unknown to his colleagues he is still suffering from shell shock, and is burdened with the guilt of having had executed a young soldier on the battlefield for refusing to fight. A jealous colleague has learned of his secret and has managed to have Rutledge assigned to a difficult case which could spell disaster for Rutledge whatever the outcome. A retired officer has been murdered, and Rutledge goes to investigate.

Publisher's Summary

Multiple award-winning, New York Times and number-one internationally best-selling author Peter Robinson returns with Children of the Revolution, a superb tale of mystery and murder that takes acclaimed British Detective Chief Inspector Alan Banks back to the early 1970s - a turbulent time of politics, change, and radical student activism.

The body of a disgraced college lecturer is found on an abandoned railway line. In the four years since his dismissal for sexual misconduct, he’d been living like a hermit. So where did he get the 5,000 pounds found in his pocket?

Leading the investigation, Detective Chief Inspector Alan Banks begins to suspect that the victim's past may be connected to his death. Forty years ago the dead man attended a university that was a hotbed of militant protest and divisive, bitter politics. And as the seasoned detective well knows, some grudges are never forgotten - or forgiven.

Just as he’s about to break the case open, his superior warns him to back off. Yet Banks isn’t about to stop, even if it means risking his career. He's certain there’s more to the mystery than meets the eye...and more skeletons to uncover before the case can finally be closed.

What made the experience of listening to Children of the Revolution the most enjoyable?

It was narrated by Simon Prebble. I think I'd listen to Prebble read his grocery list.

What did you like best about this story?

It revealed how much the "influential" people in society can effect police investigations. Not a subject that everyone is pleased to see appear in print.Actually what I really liked best was that is was read by Simon Prebble and it was the next Inspector Banks novel in the series. I've read or even better, when given the chance, listened to them all. Listening to them is much better than reading them.

What about Simon Prebble’s performance did you like?

Every word. Simon Prebble is on my A list of narrators and if it wasn't for George Guidall, he would be #1

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

I don't listen to police procedural novels to be moved. Just the opposite. I listen to them to be entertained and the Inspector Banks series is one of the few being published.

Any additional comments?

Some of the reviews I read (on Amazon) were not very kind. And they were from fans of the Inspector Banks series. Comments like - "Dragged on...I've always enjoyed Peter Robinson's books but this is not one of his best." and "Having read all of the Inspector Banks books, I found this one to be dreary and dull..." Don't believe it. IMHO, no better nor worse than all the others, although Prebble's narration makes it better than those narrated by James Langton.If one looks at all the reviews of all of the Banks series novels words like "not his best" "dull" "slow moving" appear quite often. After all those comments, readers continue to read and listen. Peter Robinson didn't become #1 internationally bestselling author by writing dull and slow moving novels (22 by latest count).

Yes and No, the story was interesting, but Banks was mixture of contradictions. Here is a character that is supposed to have a chip on his shoulder in regards to the rich, but in this story he did not act as expected. In the end, his whole behavior for the last 50 minutes of the book was ridiculous. Why would he act like he did after what happened to him, was not realistic.

What was the most interesting aspect of this story? The least interesting?

The hidden story that the suspects were trying to hide.

What does Simon Prebble bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

He has definitely improved with each story, I finally think I can get back into this stories.

Did Children of the Revolution inspire you to do anything?

No, not really.

Any additional comments?

This author fills the pages with too much conversation between characters, and sometimes it can be a little slow.

This was my first (and probably last) Ian Banks novel. I am always on the lookout for new mysteries, and I was particularly interested in the tie-in to 1960s-70s radical politics. Although the writing style is good, I found the plot weak and the pace tedious. The resolution depends on characters spilling their guts to police instead of just clamming up or saying "before we go any further I want to talk to my solicitor." Occasionally this sort of confessional splurge can be forgiven, but it is such a constant feature of this book that it becomes intrusive and annoying. Finally, as detectives go I found Banks a bit on the bland side. Chacun a son gout, I suppose.